Human
by SieraAurora
Summary: A Kirlia raised like a human wants to be a Pokemon trainer. What could possibly go wrong?
1. Chapter 1

**Alright, let's do this.**

**So this has been floating around in my head for a little while now, and now that I've been playing Alpha Sapphire, I'm really into pokemon again. Since I'm hopefully to the point where I can write something like this without it being absolutely terrible, I decided to give it a shot. **

**There was actually a little prologue chapter I wrote before this one, that would probably help the things going on here make a lot more sense. But... it kinda turned out terrible. So I don't know if I should post it, re-write it, whatever. I might, and if anyone feels kind of lost after reading this, let me know and I'll plop it up there either as a separate story or spliced in before this. **

**The setting here is kind of me mixing together everything I've ever watched, seen, or played of pokemon, so if something seems off, that's probably why.**

**Anyway, enough rambling on my part. Hope you guys enjoy it!**

Edit: The prologue is now up as a separate story, labeled "Human: Origins". It is, again, not too good, but might clear up any questions you guys come up with.

* * *

**Chapter 1**

*BEEP BEEP BEEEE-* *CLANK*

The alarm clock flew into the wall with an immense amount of psychic force, breaking it into several pieces.

"Hnnnnnnghhhh..." I groaned, rolling over onto my stomach. "I dun wann git uppp..." A voice called through the door, knocking.

"Siera! Please stop breaking your alarms!" I lifted a bit of the pillow out of my face, glancing over at the wall it'd smashed against.

There were at least 20 large dents in the paint from other incidents. "Anyway... You have to get up! How could you forget what day it is?" My tired mind tried to put two and two together.

"..." I nearly had a stroke. "OH MY GOSH, IS IT REALLY HERE ALREADY?!" He laughed.

"Yeah, there you go. Anyway, I just came to wake you up before I head over to the lab. There are other people waiting for their pokemon, you know. Get dressed and head over, ok?" I was now fully awake, and struggling to untangle myself from the covers.

"Kayyyy! Whaaaaa-!" I finally got myself out, only to fall off the bed. *WHAM* "Oww..." He just chuckled again, walking off.  
Blinking the stars out of my eyes, I used the bed to pull myself up. Today was the day!

* * *

My name is Siera Pine, adopted semi-daughter of Professor Pine. Today is my 10th birthday, and I'm going to get a pokemon of my very own! Sure, that might be kind of strange, considering I'm a pokemon myself... Yes, that's right. I'm a Kirli- er... Well, let's just say I'm somewhere between a Kirlia and a Gardevoir.

Anyway, back on topic; I'm not going to let what I am stop me from what I want to achieve; I haven't yet! Who says a pokemon can't become a Trainer?

* * *

I slipped on my best Jacket, slung my bag over my shoulder, and stepped outside. It was a sunny day, not too hot, nor cold. I smiled, walking down the steps of our porch. I heard the pitter patter of little footsteps and turned around just in time to see Yukiko, Dad's Sylveon, slip out the closing door. I raised an eyebrow.

"And where do you think *you're* going?" She looked up at me, winking and sticking out her tongue.

'Over to the lab, with you.'

"And did Dad say you could?" She rolled her eyes.

'Oh shush. He won't mind, and I think I have the right to see you off. I'm basically your stepmom at this point.' My eyes widened, then narrowed.

"Do you really need to bring moms up? Really?" She sighed.

'I mean I've helped take care of you since you were a bitty babby Ralts. You're the one who took it that way.' I looked over to the side.

"Anyway, alright, fine. Hop in the basket of my bike." She nodded, using her ribbons to swing herself into it. I kicked up the kickstand, and started pedaling.

'So, which pokemon are you going to pick? There's 3 available, right?' I nodded, making a right turn.

"Yah, for most trainers. Dad's got a bunch of the starters though, more than most professors do. I think he's got the ones from Sinnoh, Kalos, and uh... Unova? I think?" She made a whistling noise.

'Wow, that's a lot of choice. How does he expect any of the trainers to choose?' I laughed, swerving to the left to avoid a car.

"I did say *most* for a reason. I get to pick from all of em, being his daughter, but the rest of them only get to choose from Mudkip, Treeko, and Torchic. I think I know which one I want, but it's a close call." I pulled into the lab's driveway, stopping the bike as I got to the door. Yukiko hopped out, trotting over to the door.

'You ready?' I took a breath, leaning the bike against the wall.

"In all honesty? No, not really." She giggled. I walked over next to her, and pushed the door open. Inside, there were about three other kids my age. They all turned to face me, as the two of us made our way in. I didn't really recognize any of them, though I'm pretty sure they went to my school. One of them seemed to sigh in relief.

"Good, she's finally here." He called out. "Professor, can we get our pokemon now?" Dad's voice came from around the corner.

"Oh! Yeah, gimme a moment, and I'll be right there." The boy turned back to me, grinning.

"So you're Pine's kid then? You're a Kirlia, right?" I blushed a bit, stepping forward.

"Uhm, yeah, sort of." He nodded.

"Cool. I'm Darren Spark; I think I've seen you around school before, just never bothered go introduce myself. This here-" He pointed to the girl next to him. "-is Amethyst Aurora." She smiled, and waved.

"Hello!" Darren folded his arms, grinning.

"She's a good friend of mine. And the doofus over there is Topaz. The two of them are bro and sis." He pointed to the boy on the other side of Amethyst, who furrowed his eyebrows.

"Who are you calling a doofus, mate?" Darren laughed.

"I'm just kidding dude, lighten up." He rolled his eyes. Darren turned back to me. "Anywho, what's your name?" He put out his hand to shake. I took it, doing so.

"My name is Siera." I smiled, and he smiled back. He seemed nice, which was a good start. Sure, they already knew about me and who I was, but they'd still never met me before. Before he could say anything else, my dad came around the corner, wheeling a cart with him.

"Heyo, girlie. I see you finally got over here." I nodded. He smiled, before his eyes drifted downwards to Yukiko. "Hm? Why is she with you?" I sighed, placing my hands behind my head.

"She wouldn't let me leave until I agreed to let her come." He laughed.

"Typical." Yuki snorted.

'And what's that supposed to mean?' I just giggled, as Dad came to a stop in front of the four of us. On the cart were three pokeballs, though glancing over at his lab coat, I could see another one in his pocket. He took it out, holding it out to me.

"This is the one you wanted, right? Fenniken?" I grinned, taking it from him.

"Yeah! Oh man, you did have one!" The other three looked at me in curiosity. Topaz folded his arms.

"Fenniken? That doesn't sound like a pokemon I've heard of before." Dad chuckled.

"I don't blame you. They're native to Kalos; I don't think any have ever even been seen here in Hoenn." Amethyst pipped in.

"Wait, how come she gets to just pick any pokemon she wants as hers?" I rolled my eyes smiling.

"It's not just *any* pokemon. Fenniken is the fire starter for that region." Dad nodded.

"I requested some of the other regions' starters for study, but I've finished with her. Siera previously had already requested to have her if I was done by the time she set off. So..." Darren scratched his head.

"Well, would we be able to choose from some of the others you have?" He bit his lip, thinking.

"Hmm. Well, I'm really only supposed to give out one of these three..." He gestured to the pokemon on the cart. "But I am done studying a few of the other ones too, and I really don't have anywhere else to send them..." He tapped his fingers on the cart for a few seconds, before holding one up. "If you'll give me a moment; feel free to take a look at the ones already here." He turned around, and walked off. The three of them did what he said, each grabbing a pokeball. I looked down at my own, holding my finger over the button.

I grinned, and pressed it, and after a flash of red light, a little orange fox stood there on the cart. The other three followed suit, releasing the pokemon in the ball they held. I leaned down, coming down to eye level with the fire fox.

"Hello there." It tilted it's head, smiling back.

'Hello! So you're the one who wanted to be my trainer, huh?' She was obviously talking more to herself, as she probably didn't know I could understand her.

"Yeah, that's me alright." That sure caught her off guard. Her eyes went wide, before she actually took a good look at me.

'Wait, you're not a human... You're a pokemon!' I laughed, nodding. My little conversation was interrupted by a tap on my shoulder. I turned around to see everyone else looking at me. Darren stood behind me.

"Are you... talking to your pokemon? So you can understand them then?" I rolled my eyes, standing back up.

"Of course I can, silly. I'm one myself, why wouldn't I be able to?" He blinked, before shrugging.

"I dunno." I looked at the other two to see that Amethyst was now holding a Mudkip, and Topaz's hair was slightly singed. I laughed.

"Anyway..." I stepped closer to the table and scooped up Fenniken, who made a little squeak as I did so. "…You guys like any of the three you see here?" Amethyst smiled, nodding. The other two shook their heads. Darren glanced over at them.

"Nah. They're alright, but I'd like to see what else the professer has to offer." I nodded in understanding. After taking a second to check the time on my watch, I remembered that I still looked, well, like a pokemon.

"Hey guys, uh, I have to go do something." Darren folded his arms.

"Mkay." I turned towards where my dad had gone off to and started walking. Yukiko stayed behind, chatting with the other pokemon.

* * *

Closing the bathroom door, I placed Fenniken on the closed toilet seat, and hung my bag on the hook on the back of the door. The fire pokemon sat, watching me as I retrieved a small makeup pouch from inside.

'Hey, um... girl. Kirlia. Gardevoir. Whatever you are.' I turned to face her.

"My name is Siera." She blinked.

'Um, ok. Siera; why do you look so much like a human if you're not?' I laughed, turning back to the mirror.

"Well; Professer Pine over there, ala my dad, kinda accidently raised me more like his own daughter than a pokemon. After a while, I kinda just got into the mindset myself of being human. So all these years I've done my best to act and look as human as I can; I go to school, hang out with friends, eat human food, wear clothes..." I gestured to my outfit. "I even got surgery to make my body more humanlike." She tilted her head.

'Huh. What are you doing right now?' I removed the skin tone paint from the pouch.

"Well, a pokemon pokemon trainer isn't exactly something that most people would react normally to, for perfectly valid reasons. So, to counteract that..." I applied the paint to a large portion of my face, before looking at the fox. "I'm going to do this!"

'Ooooohhh. Wow, you almost look completely normal! That's... crazy!' I laughed.

"Yeah, we've put a lot of prep and work into this whole idea. Hopefully nobody will pay too close attention. If things go well, I should be fine. Anyway, lemme just finish with this, and we should be able to go on our way." I continued with what I was doing. After a little bit, I was done. As I put the stuff away, I broke the silence. "Hey, you don't happen to have a name for yourself or anything, do you?"

'Oh. Um... no, not really. I'm usually just called Fenniken.'

"So you wouldn't mind if I gave you one, would you? That's what a lot of trainers do, but I figured I should ask you, just because I'm able to."

'Oh! Hm... well, I guess I could come up with one... Maybe... Rune?' I laughed.

"Do you know how ironic it is that you'd pick that, considering your evolution?" She just blinked. "Ahh, I figured you wouldn't. Anyway, yeah, if you'd like me to call you that, I'd be cool with it!" I slung my bag over my arm again, before walking over to the door. The fox hopped off the seat, joining me at my side.

As the two of us made our way back into the lobby, we saw that the other kids were already gone. My dad stood there, slightly soaked, singed, and cut. I raised and eyebrow, coughing to get his attention.

"Oh! Siera! I see you're all ready to go; the makeup looks great!" I glanced past him.

"Uh, yeah. Hey, where'd those other trainers go? Did they already pick their pokemon?" He nodded, handing me a red device and a few pokeballs.

"Yes, I'm sorry to say. You just missed them leaving." He pointed to the red device, now in my hand. "Anyway, there's that pokedex I promised you, and a few pokeballs to get you started on your journey." I nodded.

"Alright!" I smiled, and put it in my pocket. He sighed, looking over to the side. I did the same.

"So. You'll be going then, right?" I lightly nodded, closing my eyes.

"Yeah." I glanced back at him, still smiling warmly. "Hey, dad."

"Hm...?" I closed my eyes again, and wrapped my arms around him.

"Thanks." He was caught off guard, before he cheered up, returning the embrace. "Love you."

"Love you too, kiddo."

* * *

**Anyway, that's that. More chapters will be on the way, and feedback is greatly appreciated. I'm in a new territory here, so anything would probably help at this point.**

**~SieraAurora~**


	2. Chapter 2

**So here's this. I think that this chapter is honestly written a lot better, which is a nice feeling to have. I might just stick up the prologue as a separate story or something tomorrow. Who knows.**

**Anyway, enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 2**

After we finally said our sappy goodbyes (Which included Yukiko), Rune and myself made our way outside. As I started for my bike, a thought came to me that hadn't before. I glanced down at her.

"Hey, uh. Rune?" She looked up.

'Huh?' I scratched the back of my head.

"Do you have anything against staying in the pokeball? Or do you want to just like, ride in the basket of my bike or something." She blinked, before going over my question in her head. After a second or two, she made a shrugging motion.

'I'unno. I guess if you'd rather me stay in there, I'd be able to live with it. But it's not like I actively **want** to be in there. So... I guess I'll ride in the basket?' I nodded.

"Right. Hop in then." She did so, smiling. I mounted the bike, and just before I could start off, I heard someone calling for me. I turned to see my friend Avery running this way. He skidded to a stop a foot or two away from us, breathing heavily. I grinned, folding my arms and resting them on the handlebars. "Hey there dude. Slept late?" He, finally catching his breath, glared up at me, and stood up straight.

"Ah hah hah. Very funny. I come to see you off and this is what I get." I stuck my tongue out at him playfully. The two of us had known each other for a LONG time, so this kind of thing was normal. He rolled his eyes, before noticing the pokemon in the basket. "Oh! Wow, that's a Fenniken!" Rune stared at him.

'Siera, who's this?'

"Well, this is my friend Avery. Both of us are about the same age, but he's not becoming a trainer like me; he's more into all that pokemon research like my dad. I enjoy it and all, but not so much behind a book like him." He sighed, looking off to the side.

"I wish you wouldn't do that while I'm around. You know I'd love to be able to speak to pokemon, and yet you always do it right in front of me." I laughed.

"Trust me, for all the other crud I have to deal with to look as human as I do, I think my ability is well deserved." He bit his lip.

"About that... be careful out there, please. We both know everyone around here is fine with what you are, but who knows what other people will think." I frowned.

"Now you sound like my dad. Stop that." His face became playful.

"As soon as you stop teasing me with your pokespeak abilities." I pouted.

"Screw you dude, I'm getting outta here." Placing my feet on the pedals, I slowly started moving. "But for reals, I'll call you; and don't worry about me, everything will be just fine." He folded his arms, looking unsure.

"Yeah... Ok." I gave him a real smile, and a wave, before going on my way.

* * *

'Hey, Siera?' We'd been riding for a little while, and were a good ways into the forest that was in the middle of our and the next town. Rune had been mostly quiet up until now. I looked down, careful to slow down.

"Mhm?"

'Can we like, stop and eat soon?' I frowned.

"Um..." I scratched the back of my head. "Well, the truth is, I don't have any food on me. I figured getting to the next town wouldn't take that long, and that we could just eat there..." She looked surprised. My stomach grumbled. Closing my eyes, I grumbled myself. "But I'm getting a little hungry too." We both sighed.

Slowing down, I used my foot to bring the bike to a stop. She looked confused. 'What are you doing? Why are we stopping?' I got off the bike.

"I'm gonna find some berries or something, because I might have been understating my hunger when I said 'a little'."

'Oh. Right.' She hopped out of the basket, but I stopped her before she started walking.

"Can you stay with the bike while I go look? I really don't want anything happening to it..." She blinked, before nodding.

"Right! Don't worry, I'll make sure nothing comes near it!"

* * *

A few minutes later, I found myself with both an arm and mouthful of berries. Satisfied, I made my way back to where Rune and the bike were, only to find a few things I hadn't expected.

One, was there was now a large pile of ash where my bike had previously been.

Yeah.

Next, was the boy who was currently kneeling next to it. He didn't seem familiar, and had a very angry Rune trying to bite him.

I blinked, before taking a deep breath. That got his attention, and he flipped around; panic was written all over his face, and he looked like a criminal who'd just got caught. He pulled a ball off his belt and tossed it in my direction. My eyes widened.

"No, Wa-!" But it was too late. A small fire chick pokemon, Torchic, popped out.

"TORCHIC, USE EMBER AND RUN FOR YOUR LIFE." The bird chirped in confirmation, and shot a few small flames right at me. I was caught so off guard that I didn't have time to dodge, and my clothes were soon ablaze.

Things only went downhill from there. Out of both panic and pure rage, I grasped the boy in my psychic powers, and slammed him against a tree; he was knocked out cold. With him taken care of, my panicked mind focused back on my clothing. I stripped off the flaming garments as fast as I could, at the cost of quite a few burns.

I cringed at the pain, as I watched my pants and jacket burn on the ground. Well... that's not good, to say the least.

I sat down, looking over at the confused Torchic now being attacked by Rune. "Rune, don't bother. It was just doing what he said to." The fire bird nodded, backing away.

'What she said oh my gosh please don't hurt me.' I crawled over to my pokemon, scratching her behind the ear. I, at the same time, retrieved a burn heal from my bag and started to spray it on my wounds.

"What happened while I was gone? It was like, three minutes!" Rune glared at the bird.

'Well... I think that guy over there thought I was a wild pokemon, because he had this chicken over here attack me. I dodged, but the fire hit your bike...' She gestured to the pile of ash with her paw. I cringed again, both from the truth coming out, and the stinging the medicine was giving me.

"That's just great..." I glanced at the guy whom I'd thrown into the tree. "Ugh... What am I supposed to do now? I don't have clothes to wear besides those." I sighed, closing my eyes.

By the time the kid woke up, it was already dark. I'd set up a fire pit, and his Torchic had lit it up. I'd searched through his things, and found that he had a sheet in there; probably to lay down in the tent that was also in his bag. I wrapped it around myself, both to stay warm and conceal my non makeup-ed skin. He also had a few potions, so I treated myself to them. No reason I should have to waste my supplies when my injuries were his fault in the first place.

I'd placed him on a log, so when he came to, he immediately fell off. I glanced over just in time for him to hit the ground.

"Ow!" I furrowed my eyebrows, looking back at the thing I'd already been looking at to pass the time.

"So you're awake, huh?" He blinked a few times, before looking at me. His face became one of fear from confusion.

"Oh my gosh I'm so sorry about your bike and setting you on fire-" I held a hand up.

"Look. We can worry about my bike and shit later. You're obviously getting me a new one, so that's fine and good. About the fire though. You burned my clothes to a crisp." His eyes widened.

"Oh, my god; I'm so sorry." I narrowed my eyes.

"Why did you do that in the first place?!" He scratched the back of his head, leaning back against the log.

"I dunno. I just panicked I guess. I saw you there and didn't know what you'd do to me about the bike... so I went to flee." I frowned.

"Either way, I'm holding you responsible for getting me both clothes and a new bike. He looked at me like I was crazy.

"I don't have the kind of money for all that!" I folded my arms tighter, squeezing the sheet closer around me.

"Well, that's too bad. Unless you can come up with something else to do for me, I'm not budging on the matter." He frowned, thinking.

"Um... well, I can cook pretty good. And... uh... I'm alright at battling." I raised an eyebrow.

"Cooking?" He nodded.

"Yeah, I mean, my mom used to show me all different kinds of recipes and stuff." He thought for another moment, before a smile bloomed on his face.

"Hey! I've got an idea!" I leaned on my knees, listening. "So uh, to be honest, I'm not too big on the idea of doing this whole adventure thing alone, ya know? I like company, and It helps me be less jumpy to be around other people; that's why I freaked so much when you showed up." I nodded slowly.

"Uh huh..." He continued.

"So like, maybe I could travel with you! You're a trainer right? We'll be going to basically the same places, since we both need the same gym badges; I assume you're a beginner like me. And along the way, I could cook for you! And any pokemon you or I catch. As a way of slowly paying you back or something. And also, this way, at some point I could get you a new bike!" He seemed really happy with this whole idea. "This way I repay my debt and also get something out of it!" I considered it.

It wasn't a bad proposition, and even though the guy did kinda burn my bike and clothes, it's not like he did it on purpose or anything. Plus... free food.

"Hnn... Alright. Fine. But I still need something to wear." He nodded.

"That's cool, I have a long sleeve shirt and some jeans in my bag over there. You can borrow them until we get to the next town or whatever." He stood up. "I'll start making some food now, as a sorry; plus, I'm hungry, and it's dinner time anyway." He walked over to his bag and started rummaging though it. "Anyway, since we're like, traveling partners or something like that now, can I get your name?" I bit my lip.

"Uh, Siera. Siera Pine." He seemed to recognize the name.

"Oh! Pine? As in, Professor Pine? You related to him?" I nodded, making sure he couldn't see any non-painted skin, since he was right next to me.

"Yeah... he's my dad." He seemed surprised, but also like something now made sense.

"Ahhhh; that's why you have a Fenniken as a starter. Those aren't something you see every day around here, so I was wondering where you got it. My Dad was from Kalos, so that's how I know about it." He stood up, with an asorted bunch of items now in his arms. "Well, that's neat. Anyway, my name is Seraph! Seraph Kanivy." I nodded again, not saying anything.

He got to work on cooking. My stomach grumbled again. Dinner sounded pretty good about now. Maybe this wasn't all so bad after all.

* * *

**Feedback is appreciated, as always.**

**~SieraAurora~**


	3. Chapter 3

**Yeah, this took way too long to get out. I'll hopefully be done with the next one a bit sooner. Sorry for such a stark time difference between this chapter and the last two. :/**

**Anyway, hope it was at least worth the wait!**

* * *

**Chapter 3**

By the time he finished dinner, it was completely dark. I'd gotten changed into the clothes he lent me, in the meantime. They fit pretty well, but he also noted that they were kinda tight for him; which explains it.

"Here you go." He handed me a decent sized bowl, which had some Mac n' Cheese in it. I raised an eyebrow, as he went to get himself some from the pot that the rest of it was in.

"So this is dinner. Mac n' Cheese?" He laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head.

"Well... I've been out here a few days already, and this is all I have left. I'm gonna buy some more supplies when we reach the closest town." He went and filled his dish, and sat opposite of me. Swallowing a spoonful in one bite, he shrugged. "I know it's not much, but it still tastes really good." I looked down at it; scooping it up, I ate some.

"Oh my gosh; this is like, the best. How did you even make this so good?!" I scarfed the rest of the bowl down in ten seconds flat. He blinked, sort of stunned.

"Um... I dunno... It's just the way my mom showed me how." I grabbed the big pot, and started eating it straight out of there. By the time he'd finished his bowl, I'd finished the rest. Both him and our two pokemon had just kind of watched in awe as I downed the pasta.

Laying down on the log, I rubbed my stomach. "That was delicious." I glanced over at him. "Yeah, I think I almost forgive you for my bike already, if all your cooking is this good." He looked relieved.

"So you're not mad anymore?" I rolled my eyes, looking up at the sky.

"Of course I am. You set me on **FIRE.** But less, at the least." He sighed. Getting up, he walked over to his bag and took out the previously mentioned tent.

"Well, can you help me set up this thing? You can be mad, but I'm sure you'd like somewhere to sleep... so..." I grunted, sitting up. Walking over to him, I took the instructions for setting it up out of his hands. After looking it over, the two of us struggled to properly get the tent together. After a good twenty minutes, it was more or less complete, with two sleeping bags set up inside. The both of us were pretty tired and sore, so we headed inside and went right to sleep.

'Siera.' I grumbled, turning away from the voice. A few moments passed, before it called out again. 'Siera, get up.' I moaned, before slowly opening my eyes. Rune stood there, looking at me with some amount of annoyance.

"Wuh tim iz it..." She frowned.

'I don't know; But everyone else is up, and Seraph is already packing up his stuff. Plus, he made breakfast, so if you want any, I'd suggest moving.' With that, she trotted out of the tent. Ugh. I'm not an early bird by any standard, and I'm pretty sure it was, at the latest, 8AM. But I guess I've got to get better at that if I'm going to be traveling around...

I yawned, pushing myself up. Rubbing my face, I noticed how flaky it felt. The paint from yesterday must have started coming off. I sighed, reaching for my bag. I took the makeup kit out and reapplied the paint to my hands and head. After it dried, I placed everything back, and put my hat on. I needed it to cover up the red bumps on my head, but I didn't feel I really needed to go to sleep with it on.

Standing, I was at least awake enough to not seem like a zombie. I packed the rest of my gear in my bag and stepped outside. It wasn't really sunny, but it also wasn't raining, which was good. Seraph looked up from his pack, which he had been stuffing things into.

"Oh, you're awake. Good, I need to pack up the tent." He walked past me, as I glanced around. Rune and Torchic were chatting over where he'd left the bag, and everything else was already away. "Oh, and there's some berries over there if you're hungry. The next town is close though, so you can just wait I guess if you're good." I glanced to my right and saw a small pile of berries. Picking one up, I idly nibbled at it as he put his tent away. I swallowed the rest of the oran berry, deep in my own thoughts; which I was broken out of by Seraph calling my name.

"Hey, Siera." I looked up, to see he'd crammed it into the bag.

"Huh? What is it?" He grinned.

"Want to have a battle? Me versus you." I blinked a few times. The idea actually kind of terrified me. As much as I wanted to be a trainer, the whole idea of battling was a little weird for me to consider. Y'know, as a pokemon and all that. It seemed cool when I first decided I wanted to do all this, but now that the time is actually here, it's all a little much to think about.

"Uh... shouldn't we like, be trying to get to the next town? You said you were almost out of supplies..." He shook his head.

"Nah, It'll be fine. We're really close, and plus, you do need to train your pokemon if you want to beat the gym, you know. It'll be good for practice!" In all honesty, I knew he was right, I was just trying to find an excuse to get out of this.

"Heh... um... alright, sure. Me versus you. Let's go." He cheered, fist pumping. I laughed nervously.

The two of us stood across from each other, with about 20 feet of space inbetween. Rune stood strong, ready to go, as did Torchic. I took a deep breath, attempting to calm my nerves. Seraph called out to me.

"Alright, so are you ready?" I gulped.

"Yeah, as I'll ever be." He nodded, grinning.

"Cool; we'll start on the count of three, ok?" I nodded, not answering. "One..." Wait a minute. "Two..." I don't know Rune's moves, do I? "THREE!" Oh god. Looks like I'm gonna have to wing it here. He pointed at Rune. "Torchic! Use Ember!" The bird chirped in confirmation.

'Alright!' She dashed towards Rune, before jumping in the air. My eyes widened.

"Rune, dodge left!" She nodded, leaping in said direction just as Torchic got his attack off. The flames just missed. My mind had sped up now; had to act fast. "Now, tackle!" Torchic, having barely missed, wasn't ready for the attack and was rammed into by the orange fox. He stumbled backwards, bruised, but still ready to go. "Again, quickly!" Rune careened forward into the still slightly off balance chick. He was sent tumbling back towards Seraph, who gasped.

"No! Torchic!" The bird wasn't out cold, but was definitely struggling to get up. It probably couldn't take another hit. Rune stood a few feet away, ready to deliver the knock out blow. She looked back at me for the OK, and I nodded. Might as well get this thing over with so we can just get going. Rune charged at Torchic, but just before she could hit him, Seraph yelled a command.

"Sand Attack, Duck, and then Scratch!" He suddenly moved with a lot more speed than he had been, kicking some of the dust and dirt off the ground directly into Rune's face, who cried out in pain. Unable to see, she flew right past Torchic as he scraped his talons along her body. The fox tumbled a few feet in the direction she'd been going before coming to a stop. She yelped as she made her way back to her feet. The sharp talons had left a few gashes in her side, and she cringed in pain. I felt pretty horrible, even though I knew it would only take a few sprays with a potion to heal it. Still probably hurt right now. I glared at Seraph, who was now cheering alongside his Pokemon.

"Rune! Now!" She used the last bit of strength she had to charge at the bird pokemon, leaping straight into his back. His cheering was cut short as he was knocked out cold by Rune's feeble hit. She collapsed herself, panting heavily. Both Seraph and I both rushed to our respective pokemon. Rune looked up at me, smiling slightly.

'Well… That could have… Gone worse… Heh…' I frowned, picking her up.

"Rune…" She yelped, as I brushed against her cuts. I cringed at her pain. Standing up, I carried her over to my bag, and laid her down on the ground. As I rummaged through my bag, I heard someone approach from behind.

"Hey, that was a good job out there; both of you. You win, congrats!" I sighed, pulling out a purple spray bottle.

"Yeah, thanks I guess." He crouched down next to me; I glanced in his direction to see him frowning. He was looking at Rune.

"Is she okay?" I narrowed my eyes, turning the potion to the 'spray' setting.

"Shouldn't you be worried about **your** pokemon?" He looked slightly insulted, holding up a pokeball.

"He's knocked out and I don't have any Revives, so he's in here." I sighed, looking back at Rune's cuts. After a few sprays of the medicine, they slowly started closing; and her expression relaxed from the tense state it had been in.

'Ahhhhhhh...' I felt my expression soften.

"You better now?" She nodded, struggling to get up.

'Yeah... that stuff is great. Thanks!' I smiled, standing up myself. Looking over at Seraph, I saw he seemed relieved.

"Well that's good. Seems that potion did the trick." I just lightly nodded. He looked over at me, eying me oddly. "Siera, what's wrong? You just seem so unhappy; I mean I get the stuff that happened yesterday wasn't that pleasant, but it can't still be that, right?" I just deflected his question; slinging my bag over my shoulder, I turned towards the road.

"Look, it's nothing. If Torchic is knocked out, we should even more so than earlier be heading for the next town so we can get to a pokemon center." He looked down, obviously cornered by my reasoning. Giving up on his question, he sighed.

"Yeah, you're right. Let's go then" The two of us set off down the path, silence floating in the air.

* * *

**I was going to add more here, but I both just kinda wanted to get it out, as well as it seeming like a good place to stop.**

**Feedback is appreciated!**

**~SieraAurora~**


	4. Chapter 4

**Alright, I should have probably just posted it, but I needed to get my proofreader to look at it first and he got sick. Sorry guys!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 4**

The trees finally started thinning out after about a half hour of walking. Not much had been said during that time. I'd have talked to Rune, but I couldn't really do that with Seraph right there. If he was really going to be traveling with me for a while, I'd probably wind up showing him what I actually am sooner or later, but that time definitely wasn't now. I was brought out of my thoughts by his voice.

"Hey, I think we're here!" I focused back on my surroundings, to see that there indeed was a few buildings up ahead. There was a sign posted, just visible from this distance, that said; "Welcome to Oldale town!" He looked at me. "I'm gonna go ahead, to the pokemon center. I really need to get Torchic into care." I bit my lip.

"Yeah, ok. I guess I'll catch up at some point. Get us a room to stay in there, alright?" He nodded, jogging forward into the town. Rune and I continued walking, eventually reaching the town's outskirts. It was pretty small, around the size of our town. Even so, it was still large enough to be home to at least around fifty or so people. There were a few people walking around as we made our way towards the center. By the time we made it there, it was a good thirty minutes later; partly because I'd decided to stop in the pokemart and pick up some more healing supplies for the road.

The two of us made our way into the building, looking around. I'd been here once when I was younger. Overall, it looked a bit newer, but not much had changed. Walking up to the front counter, I glanced around to try and find Seraph, with no luck. A voice sounded out behind me, which I turned to.

"Hello, may I help you?" It was the Nurse for this center, whom looked at me with a cheery smile. I rubbed the back of my head.

"Uhh... did a boy with a torchic with a black jacket and jeans come in here earlier?" She thought for a moment, before nodding.

"Yes, he's in the room in the back with his Pokemon, actually. Would you like to seeeee... Wait a minute." She suddenly seemed like she was trying to remember something. "I... I know you. Siera...?" Her eyes suddenly widened, surprised. "That IS you, isn't it! What are you doing with all that silly- MMPH." Panicking, I shoved my hand over her mouth, looking around to make sure that nobody else was watching us. She looked confused, as I moved my hand away. I sighed, glancing down at Rune, who was looking at me just as clueless.

"Er... can we talk in private?"

* * *

"You're doing what?!" Joy just stared in amazement at me. "You... Trainer?! I... what?! Why THAT of all things?" The two of us had moved to one of the other back rooms, where we could talk about things without others hearing. I just laughed sheepishly.

"Ah, ehe. Um... Well, my dad was a trainer before he became a professor, and the stories his pokemon told me about were really interesting and exciting. Plus, being able to talk to my pokemon because of what I am will let me grow even closer to them; so why not?" She sighed, rubbing her eyes.

"I could list ten reasons why not, but It's not like you'd listen to them." I just pouted. Before I could respond, Rune interupted me.

'Uh, do you two know each other?' I turned to her, crossing my arms.

"Yeah, I've been here once before, when I made a... questionable choice...' She just stared; I coughed, continuing on. "...And Marie here was the nurse Joy who treated me afterwards. I didn't think she'd be here after all these years, it was at least 5 or 6 ago. Heck, even if she did, I didn't think she'd recognize me..." Marie took her hat off, scratching her head.

"It was actually your voice that sparked my memory, more than your appearance. You honestly did a pretty good job with that getup." I grinned, looking back to her.

"Thanks." I stood up, folding my arms behind my head. "Um... so can I trust you not to tell anyone about me? Like, the whole pokemon thing." She nodded, a small smile appearing on her face.

"Of course; It's not like there's any reason for me to spill your secret. I still don't think all this is the best idea, but if you really care about it, then who am I to try and stop you?" I smiled, nodding back.

"Thank you." Her smile grew a bit.

"So... would you like me to show you to where your friend is?" My smile faded, and I glanced over to the side.

"My friend... Uh... yeah, sure." I thought about that, as she led me out of the room. Seraph... I just met him yesterday. And he both set me and my bike on fire. Could I really consider him a friend...? Honestly, I hadn't really put much time into that thought. He was alright, once I'd gotten past the whole setting me on fire thing. But still...

I sighed to myself.

* * *

"Excuse me, Seraph, is it? Someone was looking for you." He turned around to see the three of us walking into the room. Next to him was his Torchic, in much better condition than he'd been before. He was hooked up to a machine or two, wires hanging off his wings and torso. Seraph paid more attention to Marie than he did to us two.

"Yeah, hi Siera. Nurse, how is Torchic doing?" I frowned at him basically ignoring Rune and I, but stopped before I said anything; he was just concerned about his pokemon. Marie made her way over to the two of them.

"Here, let me take a look." He nodded, taking a step away from her to let her examine the fire bird. Turning to me, he smiled slightly.

"Hey." I sat down in one of the seats along the wall. Rune hopped into one next to me.

"Hi. Did you rent a room here?" Marie answered for him, as she typed on the terminal connected to Torchic.

"Yes, he got you two a room for the night. He got here just in time too, because we only had one left. Two beds and a bathroom." Seraph rubbed the back of his head.

"What she said." We sat in silence for a minute or two, before Marie stepped back from the computer, smiling.

"Good news. Torchic is already healing nicely, and should be perfectly fine in an hour or so." Seraph grinned, looking at his pokemon.

"That's great! Glad to know you're all good buddy." Torchic chirped happily back.

'Well, thanks for getting me here so quick.' Seraph laughed; even though he couldn't understand the response, he could take the thankful tone from the noise. Marie smiled, obviously happy with her work.

"Anyway, I'd leave Torchic here for a bit longer, just to make sure he's alright. Why don't you two get settled into your room in the meantime?" I nodded, standing up.

"Alright. What's the room number?" She tapped her fingers on the table she'd been leaning up against.

"Uh... I think it was 32A? It should say it on that room key I gave him earlier." Seraph blinked, before pulling a small card out of his pocket.

"…" His eyes scanned the card for a few seconds. "Ah, here. Yeah, that's right. Thanks Nurse Joy." She smiled, before glancing back at the computer connected to Torchic. Seraph sighed, looking over at me.

"Hey, you hungry? It's actually around lunchtime. After we drop our stuff off we could go grab a bite to eat." Before I could respond, my stomach did for me with a loud rumbling noise. As everyone laughed, I was glad that nobody could see me blushing under the makeup.

* * *

After we'd unpacked our stuff, the three of us picked up Torchic before heading out to look at the local restaurants. The streets were a bit more crowded than they were before, but still pretty open. There were only a few places to eat, as the town was pretty small. Out of the three available, we decided on the pizzeria after a bit of discussion. We were seated in a booth, and proceeded to order a large pizza. As she walked off, I sighed and folded my arms on the table.

"So, Seraph." He glanced at me, raising an eyebrow.

"Hmm?"

"Where do you come from? Because I've never seen you around my hometown, Littleroot. You said you're just starting off, so…" He blinked, before looking up at the ceiling.

"Oh, uh, I'm from over in Rustboro. My dad dropped me off on his Talonflame in Littleroot a week or so ago, so I could get Torchic here." I furrowed my eyebrows.

"I don't remember anyone coming by for a pokemon last week. When did you come in?" He rubbed one of his eyes thinking about it.

"Ergh... it was like 5 in the morning, because he was already going out for something work related and dropped me off along his trip." I grimaced at the thought of getting up so early.

"Right, that's probably why. I don't get up before 11 on non school days." He nodded, sighing.

"Yeah..." A minute or so passed, while we waited for our pizza to get here; I broke the silence after a little bit.

"Hey, what does your dad do? Like, for a living. You said he was originally from Kalos, right?" He'd zoned out, and my voice brought him back to reality. He shook his head, closing his eyes.

"Sorry, what? I didn't hear you." I frowned, repeating myself.

"What does your dad do for a living? And how'd he get all the way over here in Hoenn from Kalos?" Seraph's eyes brightened.

"Oh! My dad is a professional pokemon trainer. What actually brought him out here was related to that. I became a trainer because I want to hopefully one day be as good as him!" Just as he finished speaking, our waitress came back with a giant cheesy pizza, along with two bowls of pokemon food. Placing it gently on the table, she smiled. We thanked her as she left us to eat. I was starved.

"Alright, how many slices do you want?" He shrugged.

"Uhh, probably like two? Why, are you actually going to eat more than that?!" I pouted, looking down at the table.

"…Maybe." He sighed, rubbing his head. Under his breath he mumbled something that sounded like 'freakin black hole…', but I just chose to ignore it. Taking the pizza cutter, I cut both of us a slice and placed it on our respective plates. I then picked mine up and promptly devoured it. As I went for my second piece, I felt someone poke me in the side. I looked down to see Rune, who hadn't touched her pokemon food, staring at me. She then turned her gaze to the pizza.

'Um… so honestly, I've never been the biggest fan of pokemon food, and uh, you're not eating it, so um, I don't suppose you'd mind if-' I laughed, cutting her off.

"Yeah Rune, here. Have some pizza." Her tail wagged, as I lifted another slice off the platter and onto an extra plate; proceeding to slide it in front of her. She sloppily tried to eat it from the end, grabbing it with her mouth. I giggled as she struggled with it. Seraph glanced down at her, before he started laughing as well. The four of us ate our food without saying much, mostly because we were stuffing our faces. Once we finished, we pushed our plates to the center of the table and paid the waitress.

We made our way out of the restaurant, full as heck. I sighed in content as I stepped outside, the others following suit.

"I love pizza." Seraph grinned, moving slightly quicker to walk alongside me.

"Are you sure you just don't love cheese?" I rolled my eyes, smiling a bit. My mood has definitely improved from earlier.

"Ha ha, hilarious." He laughed.

"Hehe, anyway… What do we have to do here in this town? I don't think there's a Gym here, and I only rented the room till tomorrow." I tapped my chin, thinking.

"What we have to doooo… Well, you need to get me clothes, but I could just go get them myself if you give me like 200 Pokedolars or something; since you also needed to pick up food supplies and stuff." His face soured, as he hung his head.

"Ahah… Yeah, I almost forgot… About… Thatttt…" He sighed, stopping. Digging in his pocket, he pulled out a small wallet with a pokeball keychain attached to it. Opening it up, he reluctantly handed me the requested amount of money. "Please don't spend all of that…" I grinned.

"Maybe I will, maybe I won't. Who knows what I'll find at the store?" Grinning devilishly, I ran off leaving him with that thought. Rune yiped, kicking it into gear to try and catch up to me. Seraph yelled after me, with a worried tone.

"WAIT SIERA OH GOSH PLEASE DON'T ACTUALLY SPEND ALL THAT AAAAAA" I just kept going, eventually turning a corner. Panting a bit, I laughed to myself as I let Rune catch up. I wasn't actually going to, I was only probably going to grab like a pair or two of clothes.

But he doesn't know that.

Heheh. Payback is sweet.

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**Thanks for reading! I know this chapter is kind of slice of life, but that's fine I think. Anyway, feedback is appreciated.**

**~SieraAurora~**


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